1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder for at least one compact disk (CD), which holder is provided with a case having a front side and a back side. On at least one of the inside faces of the case there are provided fastening means, with which the compact disk is fastened in the holder. Thus transportation and storage are made possible without the possibility of damage to the sensitive, information-carrying surface of the compact disk. The main use of compact disks comprises application as music CDs, although a compact disk is also used as an information medium, such as a CD-ROM.
2. Background of the Invention
Numerous forms of compact-disk holders comprising diverse materials are known in the prior art. For the most part, however, a transparent plastic case is used, wherein the fastening means comprises a substantially circular element with a plurality of tongues, on which the hole disposed centrally in each compact disk can be placed and snapped in. The individual tongues deform elastically during such placement action, so that the outside diameter of the upwardly protruding tongue ends is decreased and the compact disk can snap in. To remove the compact disk from this type of holder, the tongues are pressed down, so that the compact disk is released from the fastening means.
This type of fastening means, which is made exclusively of plastic, has become widely accepted. Therefore almost all compact-disk holders are provided with such a fastening means comprising tongues.
This plastic fastening means is also used in compact-disk holders whose case comprises a material other than plastic. For example, there are also known holders whose case comprises a cardboard material or metal. To fasten the compact disk, however, there is provided the aforesaid plastic tongue-containing fastening means, which is fastened in appropriate manner to one of the inside faces of the case, preferably by permanent adhesive.
There are also known compact-disk holders in which the case is provided with slip-in jackets, into which the compact disk is inserted from one side and which thereupon is surrounded almost completely by the material of the case.
The compact-disk holders known from the prior art and described hereinabove exhibit various disadvantages.
For example, some consumers, for reasons of environmental protection and also for aesthetic reasons, do not like to use plastics.
Furthermore, a compact-disk holder made entirely of plastic has the disadvantage that a paper liner or a corresponding adhesive label is usually additionally necessary on the inside of the case in order to convey information about the contents, since direct printing on the plastic material of the case is complex and expensive.
This drawback is partly countered in the prior art by the fact that the compact-disk holder is provided with a case comprising a cardboard material, which by its nature can be printed. In such a holder, however, the actual objective of fastening the compact disk is achieved only by the use of a retaining means comprising plastic. Consequently environmentally aware users are only partly satisfied.
In contrast, a package made completely of cardboard material is provided, for fastening the compact disk, merely with slip-in jackets, which largely surround the compact disk, so that fastening and release of the compact disk is difficult and complex. Not the least problem is that the sensitive surface of the compact disk then also suffers while it is being inserted into the case. In the last-mentioned holder, moreover, the surface of the compact disk is only partly discernible, even though it is used in itself besides the holder for conveying information about the contents of the compact disk.
The technical problem on which the invention is based is therefore to provide a holder for at least one compact disk, which holder is made completely from an environmentally safe material and at the same time permits the compact disk to be fastened safely and with simple handling.
The aforesaid technical problem is solved according to the invention by a holder for at least one compact disk. According to the invention, it has been recognized that the elasticity characteristics of the cardboard material can be utilized for safe fastening of the compact disk in the inventive holder. Furthermore, the invention is based on the knowledge that the dimensions of the compact disk are standardized, and so the inside diameter of the centrally disposed hole as well as the outside diameter of the compact disk are predetermined by a corresponding standard. Since, moreover, the cardboard material can be machined extremely accurately by appropriately preset punching presses, it is possible according to the invention to make fastening means which are matched both to the inside diameter of the compact disk and to the outside diameter of the compact disk. Accordingly, there are achieved the two inventive embodiments described herein below.
According to the holder for at least one compact disk according to a first embodiment of the present invention, at least one fastening element is fastened on one of the inside faces of the case, the case and the fastening element comprising a cardboard material. The fastening element has a substantially round structure, and is provided with an outside diameter matched to the inside diameter of the centrally disposed hole of the compact disk. Thus the compact disk can be placed over this fastening element, in the process of which the fastening element can elastically deform slightly, especially in the region of the outside diameter, by virtue of the elasticity of the cardboard material. There is achieved firm seating of the compact disk on the fastening element. The compact disk is therefore firmly held by the fastening element against the inside face of the case, to the effect that it cannot slip away from the fastening element without outside influence.
To remove the compact disk from the fastening element, the corresponding inside face of the case can be bent back away from the compact disk, so that the compact disk can be grasped from behind on its rim and pulled away from the fastening element. Likewise the fastening element present in the hole of the compact disk can be pushed out of this hole without bending the compact disk too severely in the process and thus damaging it. This is possible by virtue of the elasticity characteristics of the cardboard material, so that the case and also the fastening element elastically deform sufficiently under the exerted pressure and in turn the compact disk can be released safely from the fastening element and thus from the entire holder.
In the inventive practical example of a holder for at least one compact disk according to a second embodiment of the present invention, there is fastened on one of the inside faces of the case, instead of the fastening element described hereinabove, at least one fastening frame, both case and fastening frame comprising a cardboard material. The fastening frame is provided with a substantially circular opening, whose inside diameter is matched to the outside diameter of the compact disk. Thus the entire compact disk can be pressed into the circular opening provided by the fastening frame. Here also the elasticity characteristics of the cardboard material ensure that the fastening frame deforms elastically in the region of the inside edge of the opening and so safe joining and fastening are achieved when the compact disk is pressed in. To remove the compact disk, it is then also possible, by virtue of the elasticity characteristics of the cardboard material, to bend the inside face of the case back away from the compact disk, together with part of the fastening frame. The compact disk can then be grasped at least from one side, and so the compact disk can be pushed or pulled out of the fastening frame.
Both the fastening element and the fastening frame can be combined with one another in particularly preferred manner, so that the compact disk is held in the holder both at the outside diameter and at the inside diameter.
In a further preferred manner, at least one recess oriented radially outward is provided on the inside of the opening of the fastening frame, so that it is easier to grasp the edge of the compact disk from behind with a finger or hand during release of the compact disk from the fastening frame. Therewith removal of the compact disk is additionally simplified.
Finally, it is possible in a preferred manner to dispose one of the fastening means described hereinabove both on the inside face of the front side and on the inside face of the back side or of a further front side. Therewith a holder for two compact disks is then formed.
What is achieved on the whole in the inventive compact-disk holders is that, besides the uniformly used cardboard material and the environmental safe holder associated therewith, there can also be made an aesthetically suitable holder. By selection of different cardboard types and thicknesses, the external appearance can be advantageously influenced, as it can by a suitable form of printing.